Here’s Why Sting Vs. Undertaker Didn’t Happen At ‘WrestleMania 31’
When Sting debuted in WWE in November of 2014, everybody began calling for the long-awaited dream match between him and The Undertaker, but it immediately became clear that the company wasn’t planning on doing that match, as The Icon began a feud with Triple H.
Sting was forced to retire due to a neck injury he suffered in a match with Seth Rollins in September of 2015, so we don’t know if WWE was ever going to have him wrestle The Undertaker. But we do know that he was scheduled to wrestle Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 32, so an Undertaker match wasn’t on the table prior to the Icon’s retirement.
At the time of Sting’s debut, there were three huge dream matches that still hadn’t happened in WWE: Steve Austin vs. Hulk Hogan, The Rock vs. Shawn Michaels, and Sting vs. Undertaker. With both Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels being happily retired, the only possible dream match of the three was, of course, The Icon vs. The Deadman. However, WWE just wasn’t interested in doing it.
On Sunday, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter was asked why WWE didn’t do Sting vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 31, and Meltzer cited Vince McMahon as the reason why the long-awaited dream match didn’t happen.
@davemeltzerWON Was there any reason why Taker vs Sting didn't happen at WM31?
— Junaid ?? (@junaidkhan873) February 26, 2017
Vince McMahon https://t.co/30B6YkpywZ
— . (@davemeltzerWON) February 26, 2017
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Vince McMahon wasn’t interested in doing Sting vs. Undertaker because he didn’t want to have a match between two guys who were in their 50s. Also, there were some who believed that the match wouldn’t live up to the hype because of their age and physical condition.
Even though he retired during his WWE Hall of Fame induction last year, Sting still wants to wrestle The Undertaker. In fact, he is holding off on getting neck surgery because he’s still hoping that WWE will allow him to wrestle one more match.
During a recent interview on the WWE Network, Sting explained why he’s avoiding surgery.
“I am supposed to have surgery, but I’m having so many mixed messages out there. And the one thing I keep hearing is ‘if you’re not having side effects and you’re okay, then don’t do it. Yeah, that’s the unfinished business [with The Undertaker]. I’ve always wanted to have that match. I know wrestling fans have always wanted to see it too.”
Following his match with Seth Rollins, which will likely be the last of his legendary career, Sting found out that he had a condition known as spinal stenosis, which ended the careers of Steve Austin and Edge. He also told Ric Flair during his appearance on his podcast that he just barely avoided a catastrophe during his match with Rollins, suggesting that he was nearly paralyzed towards the end of the match.
WWE hasn’t used Sting on television since his retirement last spring, but at some point, they could bring him back as a general manager.
If WWE does change their mind on the Sting vs. Undertaker match, fans will have to wait until next year to see it, because Undertaker is currently scheduled to work with Roman Reigns at this year’s WrestleMania.
Unfortunately, it looks like Sting vs. The Undertaker will end up being one of the very few dream matches that fans never got to see. However, you shouldn’t rule out WWE doing some kind of Sting/Undertaker interaction at some point in the future, because they know that would be something that their fans would love to see.
[Featured Image by WWE]
